At a high cost to parents and without enough spaces to meet demand, full-day kindergarten before and after care (FKBAC) is coming to Ontario this fall. This McGinty driven initiative dictates locations, numbers of pupil places, and the base-price to be charged to parents. There are not enough spaces province or county-wide to meet demand, with those funded not necessarily in optimum locations. It is yet to be seen if McGinty will have the budget support to pay for the announced full roll-out of FKBAC over the next 4 years.
Simcoe.com reported on the recent SCDSB committee meeting where the issue was discussed. See article below.
Board daycare more expensive: superintendent – April 27, 2010 Simcoe.com – Laurie Watt
SIMCOE COUNTY – The convenience of having one-stop childcare at a local school will come at a price – a price the Simcoe County District School Board acknowledges is higher than the going market rate.
As part of a provincial early-learning initiative, school boards must make kindergarten full time and offer before and after-school care. In addition they have to offer care on non-instructional days and holidays such as March Break.
And because school board employees must deliver the programs, the cost is higher, said superintendent Paul Sloan.
“The (education) ministry expects the extended-day component to be delivered by board employees,” he told trustees, who subsequently heard its ECEs are better paid than average, specifically, $19.10 to $23.88 per hour, while the benchmark is $19.48 per hour.
School-based child care would end in June, along with the school year, with the first year’s dates running form Sept. 7 to June 29, 2011.
“I can see the potential for a number of glitches, like summer vacation,” said Springwater/Oro-Medonte Trustee Peter Beacock.
“I can see where communities may lose some babysitting people because the school may be more convenient, but come summertime, they’ll still need services. I visualize a bunch of daycare people having to quit, then there’s a scramble in the summer to find care for these kids.”
The board’s full-day rate would ring in at $52, while before-school care would cost $10, after-school $15, or $23.50 for both. A child registered for a non-instructional day program would cost only the $52.
“I’m concerned people might look at this as an extraordinary opportunity that supercedes what the YMCA is doing. They do an extraordinary job, and quite frankly, they’re cheaper. We should make sure people know they can get good quality care elsewhere,” said Collingwood/Clearview Trustee Caroline Smith.
“In some cases, parents may find they have a better situation already.”
The Y’s rates ring in at $7.50 for before and $11 for after-school care, with families choosing both get an even better deal, at $15.25. The rates could be further discounted by 10 per cent for families that opt in every day. For a full day in the kindergarten program, the cost is $34 per day, which again could be lowered to $32.50 with the full-time discount.
Other material tied to ELP including previous posts on the subject can be found here.
Looking for list of schools where ELP will be in Simcoe County? See here.
